Is Prayer More Than Just Talking to God?

Posted on Jul 16, 2019 Topic : Men's Christian Living, Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Wynter Pitts

Bestselling author Wynter Pitts’s life was a beautiful reflection of the power of prayer. Here, in her final words before her untimely passing, Wynter shows your tween girl all the wonderful things God has in store for her when she talks to Him. Share this with your daughter today.

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Prayer is not just about asking God to do what we want Him to do or to give us what we want Him to give us. It’s really a way for God to show us what He wants, including all the amazing plans He has for our lives. This means that praying is not just about you and me talking to God. It’s also about us listening to Him with our hearts. Prayer is like having a conversation with a friend. You talk to your friends because you have a relationship with them. It’s the same with God. In fact, it’s exactly like that because Jesus wants to be your best friend ever!

If I asked you, “When do you pray?” you might say…

I pray when my parents tell me to.

I pray when I do something wrong.

I pray when I need help.

I pray before I eat.

If I asked you, “Why do you pray?” you might say…

I pray because I’m supposed to.

I pray because I like talking to God.

I pray because I want God to hear me.

I pray because the Bible says I should.

We all have our own reasons for when and why we pray, but we can see what God has to say about this matter. Let’s start with the first question—when. The Bible says, “Never stop praying” (1 Thessalonians 5:17 NLT). It’s that simple. God tells us to pray always! This means we should always be talking to God in our hearts or out loud. All. Day. Long. After all, everything we encounter involves God. That doesn’t mean that you ignore everyone else. It just means that in everything you are doing, you are thinking about God, including Him in your thoughts, and talking to Him about those thoughts as often as you would a true friend or family member in your life. As you talk to Him and as you remember that He is there, you’ll begin to get better and better at talking to Him!

Okay, now on to the harder question—why we pray. Well, it’s not a hard question to answer; it just takes a little longer to explain. Are you ready? Here we go!

We might think we pray because we need to tell God what we want from Him—like what we need or what we wish He would do—and this is partly true. But that’s not the only reason to pray. God wants us to pray so He can fill our hearts with what He wants for us! Prayer helps us become more in tune with God’s awesome desires for us.

Praying is how we grow in a relationship with God. It’s how we get closer to Him. The Bible says that when we are close to God, He gives us the desires of our hearts. Let me explain what that means. God giving us the desires of our hearts doesn’t mean He gives us everything we want. Instead, He plants His own desires in our hearts. Get it? He wants to give us the things He wants us to have!

Pretty awesome, right? God wants us to pray in a way that keeps things open between us and Him.

As you pray, you’ll grow in your relationship with God and discover all He has for you. I’ve prayed for my four girls and girls just like you for a long time now, and I pray that you will trust and love the God who wants to know you deeper than you could ever imagine!